Snowmobiler Killed In Avalanche Near Yellowstone National Park

A snowmobiler from Washington is dead after triggering an avalanche near Yellowstone National Park.

According to the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center in Bozeman, Montana, sometime this past Saturday (December 31st), an unidentified 21-year old Washington resident was snowmobiling near Daisy Pass on Crown Butte, which is about 10 miles northeast of the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

He was at approximately 9,800 feet when he triggered an avalanche about 100-200 feet below the top of the Butte.

He was carried about 600 vertical feet, and was buried about 5 feet deep.

The snowmobiler was wearing an airbag pack that did not deploy, and he was not wearing an avalanche beacon.

His younger brother was snowmobiling uphill on an adjacent slope when the incident happened.

A group of riders rode up to the slide minutes after the avalanche, and found the buried snowmobile and began a search for the rider.

One rider from the group drove to nearby Cooke City to alert Search and Rescue.

The buried rider was located with a probe line about 1 hour after the avalanche occurred, and crews were unable to revive him.

The Avalanche Center says the avalanche was about 2 to 4 feet deep, 500 feet wide, 600 feet vertical and broke on weak snow near the bottom of the snowpack.